Justice for David Owen

Mon., Jul. 16 2007 @ 10:30AM

On Friday, a jury convicted Charles Hollingsworth III of murdering David Owen, a self-appointed lobbyist for the homeless. Juries had previously returned guilty verdicts for Carl “Outlaw” Baker and Kim “Baby Girl” Sharp. A fourth defendant, “Big” John Cornell, cut a deal to turn state's witness.

I profiled Owen, a convicted sex offender (for possession of child pornography) who annoyed lawmakers in the Kansas statehouse and destroyed homeless camps near the Kansas River, in March 2006. Three months later, Owen disappeared. His body was eventually found near the Kansas River.

In February, I chronicled Owen's grisly murder – Hollingsworth had strung Owen's feet in the air, looped the rope around a tree and then cinched it around Owen's neck — if his feet dropped, the rope would strangle him.

I had written letters to Hollingsworth and the others shortly after his arrest. I told them that I wanted to know more about their lives. On September 22, Hollingsworth wrote this confession letter.

"I had to kill a man to realize that the lifestyle I was living wasn't getting me anywhere," he wrote. "I had to kill a man just to realize that the path my father was trying lead me to was actually what I needed to do and was ... the best move for me. I say I had to kill a man because of killing a man I am guilty of, but of 1st degree murder, I am not guilty of, more like reckless second/voluntary manslaughter!!"

Last week, a jury disagreed. The jury found him guilty of kidnapping and first-degree murder. – Justin Kendall